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Questions I Never Asked

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From the hallway,
I am hidden
 
 I watch my father lay in the stillness
 

Eyes open,
he is somewhere farther away than I have ever been

 

 
He is fixed upon the tree limbs 
against the grey sky

and I am fixed upon his expression 
and all those secrects that he does not tell
 
I watch quiety,
 trying desperatly to understand
 
to read meaning in each line of his tired face
 
searching for answers to questions
that have not yet formed
 and I do not know how to ask
 
With a gulp
I swallow them down
leaveing these question in the hall 
 
and my father behind
lost to the dying winter light

 

poertycontemporaryfree versefree form

◄ Sugar Revolution

Joan of Arc ►

Comments

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Laura Taylor

Fri 24th Feb 2012 10:19

Interesting piece - I like how you've placed the unasked and unanswered questions in there...there's a sense of 'hidden' and making the reader work and think, which is always a good thing!

'I am fixed upon his expression' - that's a great follow-on from your father being fixed on tree limbs (but I struggled a bit with that couplet tbh).

That line 'with a gulp I swallow them down' reminds me of a line from the first poem I ever saw Rachel perform...the one that spurred me into writing in the first place. Her poem was about her dad, and the line went 'I learned to swallow lumps for breakfast' - and it crucified me at the time.

Great poem :)

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Rachel Bond

Thu 23rd Feb 2012 00:05

thanks barbi...i have to get my proper poetry head on for that one i dont know where i put it!!

just blogging right now till the flow flows. thanks for your encouragement x

bees and honey theres never enough ::)

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Barbi Touron

Wed 22nd Feb 2012 23:31

Oh and definitely not an author, and professional
never have been in all my years.

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Barbi Touron

Wed 22nd Feb 2012 23:29

I adore this, you are so beautiful, if this is sitting in the reject bin, dump the the the entire bin on the floor and gather it up right quick. Really, it just doesn't get better than this. Amazing, you win!!

i would wrap myself in the honey and rust of bees
and Tartar pelts
for the lighting of snow
to lips im ecstatic
and sleep for the hundred year freedom of sex

More of this please!!

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Rachel Bond

Wed 22nd Feb 2012 23:23

woah the more i read the more i think you are a professional author in disguise trying out some new tricks.

leaving these questions in the hall.

theres loads great lines in this x

i found this today:

i would wrap myself in the honey and rust of bees
and Tartar pelts
for the lighting of snow
to lips im ecstatic
and sleep for the hundred year freedom of sex

it was in an old journal i wrote in 2007 and was a bit that was in the reject bin from another poem 'so poor the martyr'. ilike it now, thought you might too x

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